Aversion
by frzntears
Summary: AU. Aelyk & Luke Potter are dubbed the Twins-Who-Lived. While the public showers their attention on the twins, Harry attempts to keep to the shadows. Nice try Harry.Everyone has their own agenda…
1. Chapter One

Summary: Aelyk & Luke Potter are dubbed the Twins-Who-Lived. While the public showers their attention on the twins, Harry is cast to the shadows of anonymity. Sadly, he never seems to be able to avoid the attentions of certain people…Extended Summary inside.

Extended: Lily & James Potter are normal loving and respectable parents. It's the twins who are menaces. On the surface, the two seem to be charming and slightly above average twins if one were a muggleborn stranger (with the exception of Hermione & other bookworms). Harry, on the hand, knows differently. Dubbing Aelyk a heartless bossy demon and Luke a lazy irresponsible jerk, he sometimes wonders if the Sorting Hat is defective. There was no way his brothers were not Slytherins.

Disclaimer: T.T Fanfiction. Not authorfiction. XD

Perhaps it was because they were fiercely competitive (by their own unique and oftentimes convenient standards) that they turned out like…this- the Twins-Who-Lived. Luke and Aelyk Potter had long since decided that whoever came up with that moniker ought to be Aveda Kedavra'd. Harry was just secretly glad that there was someone out there in the vast universe that was on his side.

"Harry."

Harry, crouched behind a row of bookshelves, felt a plummeting feeling in his chest – he wasn't sure which organ it was that was plummeting. Reluctantly, he bookmarked his book, _Invisibility and Avoidance; Tactics for Any Good Spy_, and stood up silently. It wasn't that he wanted to be a spy. Rather, he just didn't want to be noticed by his _brothers_. He had yet to succeed.

He mentally frowned at the five rows of bookshelves that might as well have been nonexistent separating the large plush chair his brother was in and himself. He wondered how his brother knew he was there. Waving a hand above the back of the chair, Aelyk summoned Harry.

Sighing, he plodded over, "What now?"

Sprawled out in the large overstuffed chair, Aelyk shifted his gaze away from a foreign newspaper to study Harry. Lily had demanded that her children be taught at least one foreign language so that they'd be fluent in it by the time they'd go to Hogwarts. James had no choice but to acquiesce to the demands once he'd lost spectacularly to a bet.

He still refused to tell anybody what it was while Lily still smiled smugly, like a cat who'd caught a canary, at the slightest hint of the bet.

Harry rolled his eyes at the regal way Aelyk easily dismissed him as below his attention, when Aelyk returned his focus back towards the newspaper.

"I saw that."

Harry tugged over a foot-cushion, "What did you want?"

"Mom's cinnamon rolls. Two to be exact. In five minutes, no sooner and no later." The newspaper rustled faintly as Aelyk turned a page.

Harry slid off the cushion so that it was between him and that … garbage-disposer of a brother. Crossing his arms on top of the black fabric, he perched his head on his arms and glared up at his brother from behind his shaggy black bangs. "Why should I?" he asked flatly.

Casually, Aelyk shifted to reach his pocket. One hand patted his pockets for his wire-framed glasses, while the other pulled out a thick leather-bound book with random pages sticking out in a haphazard fashion. Harry stifled a groan. It was his brother's journal, or more aptly put, it was a devil's guide- brimful of blackmail. There were several editions organized by time of observations and by age-group of the subjects of his observations.

Dark brown eyes, normally icy grey with contacts when he felt too vain to wear glasses, poured over his precious material with dark detached amusement.

"January 1st. 8 AM. You walked straight into a pole. Pictorial evidence attached. January 1st. 9 PM. You wanted to surprise mom with muggle sparklers that _I_ managed to obtain for you, free of charge. February 2nd . You broke Dad's broom and sulked for half the day before I convinced Luke to pitch in to buy a new one. While the monetary debt has been recovered, the service debt is still pending. February –"

Harry sighed. It's not like Aelyk hadn't milked those moments for all he could. Lily had been delighted with Aelyk's gift during New Years' (never mind the fact that it was Harry's idea) while Harry had to find another one for New Years'. James was ecstatic when he received his spontaneous gift of a new broom.

It really wasn't Harry's fault that the old broom hadn't been fast enough for him.

"Ok, ok. I get the idea." Pushing himself up, he shuffled out in the direction of the kitchen. Now he remembered why he hated owing anything to Aelyk. Grudgingly, if he had to look deep down into himself- really deep down, he might – emphasis on 'might', be grateful to Aelyk for instilling a sense of independence in him. Utter, complete independence.

He still wasn't sure whether or not Aelyk punched Harry's tormentor from their muggle school because (A) the bully had messed up Harry's delivery for Aelyk, (B) Aelyk felt protective over Harry (hah bloody hah), or (the answer Harry would choose after A), (C) he felt Harry was his, and thus his conduct fell in accord under a subset of rule #2.

"4 minutes and 50 seconds left." Aelyk commented to Harry's retreating back before flipping another page in the newspaper.

His parents had always been supportive. They rarely showed favoritism, and even when they did, it was never constantly in one person's favor. Lily was adamant that her family would have a good relationship, unlike the one between herself and her sister.

However, in order to have any free time and to keep up with other responsibilities, he had learned a wide assortment of random talents to satisfy his brothers. Grumbling he searched the kitchen for his brother's order of cinnamon rolls to no avail.

Aelyk had two loves. Usually anyway. Himself and his mother's food. Family was included in that heart of his…somewhere. He also had a set of rules that he expected everyone around him to automatically know. Rule #1: He gets first choice for food and fashion. His parents happily obliged. Harry was too scared of the repercussions not to oblige. Rule #2: Do not undermine his authority.

That rule had a lot of subsets. One of them was the freedom of expression or lack thereof when in his presence; thus Harry learned how to keep a straight face…most of the time. Ok, really just when he felt it was worth it. Plodding his way up the stairs, Harry desperately hoped that Luke or Sirius hadn't eaten the rest of the rolls.

Luke, what to say about him? Reaching Luke's room, Harry knocked twice before stepping in, mentally preparing himself for whatever strange position Luke's sleeping body might be. Luke never argued with Aelyk mainly because he was too lazy. His only code he expected people to follow was to let him sleep.

While he'd never expend his energy on being angry, he would find subtle and annoying ways to show his displeasure at being woken up for insignificant reasons. Sometimes, annoying could translate to mortifyingly embarrassing depending on the occasion for which he was woken up. Like Aelyk, he was extremely observant behind those half-lidded eyes and utilized these observations to his victim's displeasure.

His best works were often unknown. Though Harry suspected…

Noting that the room was empty, Harry hurriedly darted to the window and scrambled out. He was sure he'd spent almost two minutes in the kitchens casting locator spells and detector spells so as not to mix with the magic in the kitchens. The last time he rashly casted the summoning spell, the food had ended up smeared up against the inside of the cabinet and the toaster had refused to work for a week after that.

The kitchen window over the sink had also spontaneously developed a personality akin to that of Sirius' mother.

Lily replaced it within the hour.

Harry hauled himself over the rooftop with ease and again noted the absence of Luke. From the corner of his eye he spotted his brother at the edge of the field close to a main road. He sprinted lightly to an overhanging tree branch, climbed on, and quickly located his broom. Within seconds, he felt the wind shriek against his face as he zoomed towards his brother.

Slightly out of breath, he jumped off the broom and rolled to a stop on the grass. Springing up, he saw his brother languishing against a tree trunk, watching the clouds drifts by. "Accio!" he summoned back his broom and hurried towards Luke.

Before he could utter a word, Luke turned towards him and _smiled_.

Harry felt an ominous chill down his back. Luke didn't smile. He smirked- and the smirk could barely qualify as that, because it really was more of an upwards twitch of the lips. Apparently it was too much energy to expand, just to express joy. Suddenly, Harry sensed several presences across the road and some on the trees closest to the Potter's property.

Luke waved exuberantly, "Luke! What are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping on the roof?"

Harry, about to establish his true identity, caught the flash of Luke's eyes. He almost whimpered. Before he knew it, Luke had hugged him, thanked him for bringing over the broom, "I know it must have been a hassle. You're awesome bro", climbed on and drifted lazily off- leaving Harry to face the sudden appearance of reporters by his lone self.

That was the irresponsible part of Luke. The three Potter boys all looked similar. Luke had dark auburn hair, but dyed it black to better match Harry's. When he could, he would direct all the reporters' attention to Harry, and escape amidst the confusion. It was only during these evasions, that Lily learned how fast her son truly could move.

Harry never even had time to develop any envy towards the attention his brother's garnered. He was too busy fending off the reporters he gained through Luke's diversions.

Harry felt a growl building deep within his throat as several camera flashes blinded him momentarily. He didn't have much time left. With an impatient flip of his hand, he lifted his bangs to show the lack of an identifying scar.

With a careless attempt to fend off arguments, "Dark magic would resist glamours," Harry sprinted towards a birch tree and grabbed a bell hanging from one of its branches, "Dorothy's adage. Home sweet Home."

He felt the pull of his navel and the wards examining his person before he materialized in kitchen where the house elves worked. With quick efficiency, he mussed up his hair, ruffled his clothes, and got down on two knees- the very image of desperation.

"Luxie!"

With a pop, a wrinkled kindly looking old house-elf appeared. She blushed under the scrutiny of the puppy-dog green-lantern eyes trained on her.

The two had an unspoken system. The more desperate Harry looked, the less she fussed. Well, the less she fussed before his deadline. She made up for the lectures afterwards. It was fun. Master Harry was very entertaining. She tilted her head, ears flopping once.

The words spilled out, "Mom's cinnamon buns, two, _Tempus_, ah…and 31, 30seconds."

Luxie closed her eyes and tilted her head to the other side for a second, before snapping her fingers. Opening her eyes, she held up a dish of the requested items to Harry.

He grabbed the plate with clear relief and gushed out his gratitude as he took Luxie's hand. When he stopped for breath, she spoke, "Master Harry must stop taked Luxie's job."

Harry nodded fervently, "Of course." They both knew it wasn't going to happen. With another snap of her fingers, she transported them to the front of the library. "Master must call Luxie next time."

Harry nodded and opened his mouth only for Luxie to grin, "10 seconds, sir."

With a hurried thanks, he rushed into the library. As she watched the doors close, she felt the presence of her mate Dobsy appear silently. A gruff looking creature, to whom Lily and Remus had secretly assigned the manor's security , Dobsy had a monocle twisted in his white beard, and tufts of grey hair that earned him the nickname of "Einstein".

Leaning against her husband, Luxie smiled softly, "Humans, they take so much looking after."

"Hmm," Her husband agreed absentmindedly.

o.O

Aelyk raised an eyebrow, "Two seconds early. Penalty."

Harry collapsed into an armchair, burrowing his head underneath the pillows. It just was not worth it sometimes. Heck, scratch that, all the time!

He missed Aelyk whispering into a cell phone that he had hidden upon Harry's appearance, "Mm, jue ding jiu si jue ding. Ciao."

Translation: Mm, A decision is a decision. Ciao.

He closed his cell and discretely tucked it into his pocket, before snapping open the newspaper again. He hid his demonic smile behind the papers as he heard Harry's flinch of surprise at the sound. Sometimes, being the older brother by just a couple months was … delightful. Being almost a foot taller helped too. He wondered if maybe there were other reasons Harry listened to him.

o.O

Luke dangled upside down, legs hooked on Harry's broomstick. He frowned at the runes on the underside of the roof tiles on the very top of the manor. "Are you sure we're being distractive enough?" he grumbled into the cell phone. His shirt was starting to fall into his face and a bee seemed about ready to examine his belly button. Wait, no. Maybe it was a hornet. It's butt was skinnier.

"I doubt anyone has suspected."

Luke attempted to study the clouds upside down, "Well, we haven't heard from our loony associate. And are we _sure_ about the minion recruiter?"

"It's the mini minion recruiter."

"Blondie would have been a shorter name."

"Semantics. Also, too many 'Blondie's"

Luke stiffened as the bee came closer. "Two seconds early. Penalty," came in faintly through his cell.

Luke looked askance at his cell, "What?"

"Mm, jue ding jiu si jue ding. Ciao."

Luke stared as the steady sound of a dial tone was emitted from the phone. Maybe I shouldn't have taken Harry's broom, he thought to himself. He shrugged, carefully replaced the tiles, still upside down, before gently directing the broom stick to the roof space above his room. He then proceeded to drop gracelessly onto the tiles and catching the broomstick before it hit him in the face.

Naptime. He smiled sleepily at the white clouds above. Yes. Sleep reigns us all. He closed his eyes.

A/N: I'd like just 1 review telling me whether or not it's worth it to pursue this story. I want to be able to tell the difference between someone clicking, taking a glance at the summary, scoffing, and clicking out and someone who thought it was worth it to read it to the end of the page. It'd be great if I could get a beta to look at my punctuation and an expert on Harry Potter.

Anyone spot the references? Aelyk was inspired the older sister in "Seigi no Mikata" and Hiruma. Luke inspired by Shikamaru in Naruto. The second to last line of dialogue was a reference to Firefly in the episode where Simon is shot by Bounty Hunter Early despite River's plans. The whole plotline is a twist on the whole Harry is neglected by his parents and a sibling who is spoiled and the Chosen One.

If there is a next time: We'll delve into why people think the brothers are the Twins-Who-Lived; a quick glance at some blond players in this story, and why Harry would even think that Luke was competitive. Maybe it could be written from someone's point of view if people would prefer. Hah. people. I'd love the plural.

Btw. Harry does still have the scar. That'll be explained later… if ever.


	2. Preparations: Part I

Extended Summary: Lily & James Potter are normal loving and respectable parents. It's the twins who are menaces. On the surface, the two seem to be charming and slightly above average twins if one were a muggleborn stranger (with the exception of Hermione & other bookworms). Harry, on the hand, knows differently. Dubbing Aelyk a heartless bossy demon and Luke a lazy irresponsible jerk, he sometimes wonders if the Sorting Hat is defective. There was no way his brothers were not Slytherins.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be worrying about an essay topic for college apps.

Chapter Two

"Harry."

Buttoning the rest of the shirt, Harry twisted back his head to look at Luke, only to jump back.

Blinking rapidly, he noticed in the back of his mind that he was pointing…and gaping at his brother who was hanging upside down by his knees, which were hooked around the metal railing of the staircase.

Luke reached up and flicked Harry's chin before poking him sharply on the nose, causing Harry to stumble a couple steps back.

"Ow." Poked out of his reverie, Harry bent down to tug on his shoes, "What'd you want? When are mum and dad coming to pick us up anyway?"

Loosening his grip on the railing, Luke let himself slowly slide down to the end of the railing before raising his arms and dropping into a handstand. He then proceeded to flop into the ground, bonelessly- probably collected a few bruises while he was down there too.

"Mmm."

Somewhat used to Luke's antics, Harry didn't even look up at his brother's muffled groan, "And this is one of our saviors of the Wizarding World!" Finished tying his shoes, he finally looked up and deadpanned, "We're doomed."

Sighing he sat down on one of the chairs provided in the main foyer just as Luxie popped in, "Masters Luke and Harry. Are you ready?"

Looking around, she spotted Harry and gave a nod of approval at his attire. She turned her head only to tug at her ears in horror, "Oh Master Luke," she wailed, "What are you doing on the floor?!"

"'m 'ine," came the muffled reply. She fussed out loud, waving her hands and with a slight shimmer, changed his clothes. "And where is Master Aelyk?" she muttered anxiously, bouncing a fist on the top of her head.

Harry got to his feet, scratching his head, "He's in the kitchen, waiting for us-"

Their surroundings shifted and Harry felt himself being pulled and squeezed through what felt like an optic wire in a millisecond before he found himself staring at Aelyk. Charmingly cramming the rest of a 

croissant into his mouth, Aelyk swallowed quickly and dropped down from the counter where he had been sitting, "Ready?"

Luxie let out what seemed to be a strangled scream before launching herself at Aelyk and proceeding to vigorously (bordering on violently) brush off the crumbs that dotted his collared shirt.

o.O

Ten minutes later, their parents had came and taken them by Floo to arrive in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry felt something shift as the floor seemed to lift him up a couple inches. With a sense of dread, he started shaking his head as he looked towards Luke, who already seemed several inches shorter and wearing glasses- his now missing glasses, grinning cheekily.

From his peripheral vision he could already see they were attracting attention. He scrambled to catch up to his brothers, but he could already sense the crowd murmur louder. Pretty soon the reporters would arrive. It was unfortunate that Lily refused to acknowledge their status as celebrities.

"Mum, Dad? Can Aelyk and I go look at the broom shop? Luke already agreed to buy our school materials."

Lily started, "Harry, that wouldn't be fair to Luke-" (Harry wondered abstractly in the midst of his growing horror about how his own mother couldn't tell the difference when Luke made an effort not to be himself; then again Mrs. Weasley seemed to have the same problem with Fred and George- but they were twins).

James wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Oh, but he already agreed. Here why don't I go with them? I think-"

Eyes flashing, Lily started indignantly, "James, I thought we talked about this. It's time Luke start to socialize more often. It can't be healthy-"

"Oh he socializes just fine. You know how he was when you told him to stop lazing about and start improving his grades."

Harry snatched Luke's sleeve before the two could sneak off, "Luke," he started to protest in a low tone before Aelyk laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Wow you seem taller; those heels do wonders for you. Anyways, thank you for volunteering for crowd control, I'll expect that report when we get home." With a smile, Aelyk patted Harry's shoulders with a wide grin (that made several people in the crowd scream in adoration, adding to Harry's sense of unease), and strolled off with Luke in his wake.

Harry blanched. The report; he had forgotten about that.

"Harry!" He looked up. That sounded like Hermione. He turned round just in time to catch a mouthful of hair, "Mmph, Hermione-!"

"Harry, it's so great to see you again. Are you excited for school? Oh, where are my manners? Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Harry."

Caught in the spotlight, Harry managed to stammer a hello, "I-It's nice to meet you sir-ah, Mr. Granger. Mrs. Granger. My parents are uh…" he trailed off, worried they might still be arguing. Luke claimed it was flirting, but Harry just couldn't see it and Aelyk didn't seem to care.

Luckily, his mother quickly kissed his father to end the argument (in her favor) and turned to greet the Grangers with a smile on her face, eager to meet people who were familiar with muggle culture and parents of her son's best friend.

With the adults distracted, Hermione seized the opportunity and grabbed Harry's arm in a vice-like grip before hauling him off with a quick holler to her mom that they'd be in the book store. Disoriented, Harry thought that it was silly…of course he and Ron have been a good influence on Hermione!

o.O

Another shudder passed through his arm, causing him to slowly set down his teacup to grip his left arm under his table in the coffee shop. He watched the Potter child being dragged by the little know-it-all child out the Leaky Cauldron through his limp black hair. Between his teaching duties and wearing a Death Eater mask, he hadn't gotten a chance for a hot shower. He passed the unspoken public expectation for general hygiene with a few hurried spells before collapsing every night- or early morning, depending on his schedule that day.

As the spasms passed, he picked up the black drink to sip carefully. With his back to the wall, his front watching the only door in, and with one side to the windows, he felt safe enough to holster his wand. Watching the languid curls of steam emanating from his cup, he sought to empty his mind of the night before. He had never been as grateful for his decision to keep his activities during the first war anonymous. At the time, he had been overwhelmed by guilt and couldn't really comprehend it was over.

Lily and that fool Potter had been in a coma. At least it wasn't death, but it came close. That Halloween night, the night Voldemort had disappeared for at least a decade in the public eye, while the magical community rejoiced, he had drowned himself in whiskey and recriminations.

.O

Voldemort would heed his request, but as a Slytherin, they loved to play with words and promises. He would spare Lily one chance; two or three chances, if he was in a good mood, but he wouldn't grant her a fourth chance.

Snape had no doubt that Lily, with a spirited character, would bow down to no one while alive- especially when motivated by a mother's protective instinct.

A fortnight later, after furiously driving himself to exhaustion to prove himself invaluable to Voldemort as a Potions Master, he sought Dumbledore.

Afterwards, as he was interrogated by Aurors, including Moody, he would wonder if he had made the right choice. James came out of the coma after 3 years. Lily awoke half a year later and he had made every effort to avoid her since then. At first, it wasn't too hard. It took the 3 years that James was out, even with Albus' backing, for his interrogations and legal battles to end. All aforementioned parties needed physical therapy after those three years and after that, there were loads of information (especially as an academically esteemed scholar) to catch up on. When he did meet Lily, it was a strictly professional atmosphere- and somewhat awkward, as they pretended to be complete strangers by an unspoken agreement.

To this day, he wasn't sure if he had committed an error when he told Dumbledore the prophecy. The meddling old coot had a soft heart but was slow to admit to any faults. He already seemed to favor the twins. The youngest Potter didn't seem as favored, though. Dumbledore was always able to tell the difference between the three boys to the consternation of Lily.

Not that Snape could blame Dumbledore for his faults (though he did to a small anyway), having seen the dangers of being perceived weak during his years in Hogwarts, and later in the Inner Circle.

He flicked his left wrist releasing the catch on his wand holster so that he could grip his wand inside his sleeve under the table as he felt someone fix their attention on him. The chair scraped in front of him as a thin pale young man slid gracefully onto the chair. The Potions Master idly noticed the lack of hair gel as platinum blond bangs obscured the expression of his acquaintance.

Pretending to be unaware of the person sitting directly before him, Severus continued to sip his tea quietly, lounging in his chair, eyes unfocused as if lost in thought. He let his godson stew for the moment.

Lily had tried to reach out to him on occasion. He appreciated the attempts, stilted as they were.

"Do you think father would object my being apprenticed to you?"

Snape drew his eyes to meet Draco's. Sipping another mouthful while staring evenly into stormy grey eyes, he replied calmly, "I don't take apprentices."

"You could become an Adept. That would be even more valuable to our Lord."

Snape returned his gaze to his black cup, now empty with remnants of tea leaves at the bottom. Empty and black, just like his heart. He felt the beginnings of a bitter smirk on his lips, but could not find the energy to deepen nor stifle it.

He could sense unspoken, "Wouldn't it?" in the young heir's statement. Still seeking for approval…but loathing it with every step and grain of time.

"You lack the passion for it." He slowly drew himself out of his reminiscing daze. These were no times for such moods or lapses, especially for a man of his station.

If Draco was surprised by his bluntness, he showed no sign of it. That was one thing that had changed since the time Snape had watched a godson he considered an embarrassment and a waste of time saunter up to the Sorting Hat to be sorted. For all that he had accused the Gryffindors of the crime; the young Malfoy had worn his own heart on his silver trimmed sleeve embroidered with green silk by Narcissa.

"Not according to my grades," retorted Draco.

"Which I assign." Snape retorted, rubbing his thumb along the length of his wand. He couldn't understand why the Cruciatus curse was affecting him for such a lengthy period this time.

"I-"

Feeling the edges of impatience creeping up, Snape looked out the window, "You lack intuition. You lack the instinctive drive to explore the consequences of minute differences in detail." At the corner of his eye, he could see the Draco's hand fisting the robe in his lap. Good. Not completely like Lucius.

Come to think of it, the boy had been relatively inconspicuous last year. It probably had something to do with Bellatrix's visit to Hogwarts at the end of Draco's 3rd year.

He scoffed, deliberately provoking Draco, "The talent that has accorded you such grades is because of your father." He turned his head in time to see Draco swallow, emotion indiscernible except for his knuckles turning white in his pale fists. "The tutors he hired for you at an early age- his power on the Board of Governors and my association with him is what granted you your grades. You've enjoyed the luxury of hints on test subjects and exam topics, and instead of efficiently utilizing the cleared time, you spend it baiting Potter and his peanut gallery. You do not have the focus or the perseverance for the demands of an apprentice position."

Speaking softer and with greater deliberation, he leaned in, "As I said, you. lack. _passion_." With a wave of his wand, he cleaned his cup and dropped it into his charmed pocket. Sitting back, he took a gamble as he surveyed Draco's slightly tense posture, "As I suspect you do for the service of our Lord."

Draco blinked. His fists uncurled. Raising an eyebrow, he asked in a dull manner, "Was our Lord's welcome last night that harsh? I could have sworn you had just questioned my allegiance." Standing back with an irritatingly harsh scrape of the chair, he stood, "Father wanted me to bring you this." He slipped a hand into his shirt pocket and brought out a vial with two fingers. Laying it down gently on the table, he smiled without emotion, "He was concerned." With that, he moved to exit only to be stopped when Snape hooked Draco's vacated chair with one foot and moved it to block Draco's path.

"Why did you request the apprenticeship?"

For a moment, Draco stood there. Snape frowned. The boy, already pale against the black color of his robes, looked worse with the sunlight streaming through the windows causing shadows to unflatteringly accent his profile.

Draco almost sighed, "Your work load is pretty heavy, right? Besides, Pomfrey's agreed to afterschool tutoring if I brew her certain potions…Is that all?"

Snape glared at his godson's back. Why hadn't Pomfrey-? Oh. He caught a glance of his reflection in the glass. She was the only one who fussed over him nowadays. Dumbledore would fuss, but he sent mixed signals with all his requests. The lady probably didn't want to add to his workload. Foolish old maid.

"Pomfrey?"

Draco finally tilted his head back- a lock of hair fell lightly on his forehead, and shrugged, "Our Lord only has dark healers right? Vampires…a few mermen, or was it a siren? Didn't he campaign against those creatures at the start of his rise? I figure it could only help our cause if I knew a couple more tricks." He turned back, took one foot forward, and then stopped. "Don't tell father. …I won't tell him you doubted a Malfoy's loyalty."

Snape stood a moment later and exited. The fool boy had allowed him a glimpse of his cards despite his efforts …still too soon to play old men's games (1).

He ignored the fact that he had started playing the game a year earlier, as a 4th year.

o.o

Aelyk tapped a finger against his chin as he walked, "How did you adjust Harry's height?" That was how their mother usually distinguished them, with Aelyk slightly taller than Luke by a fingertip or so and Harry being shorter than Luke by a couple inches.

"I thought you saw the heels," yawned Luke.

He crossed his arms behind his head and looked over at Luke who was walking in his usual slouching, unobtrusive manner, "Yea, but how'd you avoid detection by the Ministry?"

"Oh, that."

Aelyk rolled his eyes, "Yes, that."

"I didn't"

Aelyk glared, before his venomous gaze was interrupted by a passerby, "Elaborate."

"Potion."

"Ah."  
T.T

"So how's your brother handling things?"

Harry looked at Hermione as they browsed the shelves together. Well, for this section, she was browsing, he was pretending to be useful by holding her stuff and assorted selections. "Which brother?"

"Hmm," Hermione smiled, eyes lighting up as she plucked a book off the shelves, "both."

"Well…I'm assuming that Luke's fine. Anyone falling down as much as he does because he doesn't feel like adjusting his position ought to be fine."

"Does he have any nightmares?" She handed him the book.

Adjusting the weight in his arms he answered, "I don't think so. I was concerned but he seems to be sleeping the same amount of time as before. No more no less."

Hermione grabbed another book from the shelves, "What about Aelyk?"

"What about him? And how are you going to finish reading this all?" He grumbled shifting the books again.

Hermione smiled mischievously, "Actually, this one is for you."

Harry looked at the title, _A Hundred's Years Worth of Brotherly Love: 10,000 Tales Guaranteed to Astound You!_ He looked up, "Hilarious."

Hermione returned the flashy volume to its original spot, "I meant, the Triwizard Tournament, and on that matter, how are you? I know Moody grabbed you and-I mean you don't have to tell me, but I'm here just in case, you know?"

Harry laughed. Placing the books on the floor and piling the bags next to the stack, he settled on one of the ladders used to access books placed on higher shelves. "Aelyk only spotted something wrong because he was missing his little minion."

Hermione frowned, "What do you mean?

"You know my researching skills?"

"You mean your unorthodox ways of poking at portraits, stalking ghosts, haunting upper-classmen, eavesdropping on teachers-"

Grimacing, Harry interrupted, "Well, I had to learn sometime- and you've seen the reason for that!"

Uncertain, she furrowed her forehead.

"Lockhart."

Hermione muffled her explosion of laughter. She had followed Harry around bewildered and worried the first time she saw Harry "researching". Ron was trailing behind with unhelpful laughter. It was during 2nd year when Lockhart had first arrived. She hadn't believed Harry's claims at that time, though Ron was clearly aware of their veracity at the time. Apparently it all started because Lockhart was Aelyk's current idol (a little lacking in the fashion department but clearly popular enough to be learned from). Therefore, Aelyk wanted more information on Lockhart.

Still giggling as she remembered a frazzled Harry begging her to help him outline the Lockhart's books, she asked, "But what could he have wanted to know? I mean I know Luke was kidnapped along with Cedric, but how could you have done anything about it? No offense."

"He wanted food."

"You're kidding. Why do you even attempt to fill his requests-?"

"Remember Lockhart?"

Hermione almost snorted. After outlining and citing (because Hermione insisted on keeping their information organized for easy reference), they had created a timeline of Lockhart's life. His numerous achievements had overlapped in a ridiculous fashion, that Harry almost set the whole parchment on fire, convinced they had made a mistake somewhere along the line. Later he confessed to Hermione that he had always thought Lockhart was a fraud, but didn't want to be the one to present concrete evidence to Aelyk.

She never saw Aelyk's reaction, but her own disappointment in Lockhart was assuaged by Lockhart's subsequent resignation after one week of bad hair, muddled complexion, wrinkled clothes, and literally flaming fanmail. One day after his resignation was confirmed, it became public knowledge that a Ministry official was apparently building a case after receiving an anonymous tip. She only realized the connection between the criminal charges and Aelyk because the timeline that she and Harry had created was featured in the magazine (except typed), complete with the citation format mistakes that she was about to correct before she realized that Harry had already given the document to his brother.

"Sometimes I wonder that you're a Gryffindor, the way you act with your brother," she teased.

"I pick my battles," he answered, resting his chin in one hand. "Besides, I almost went into Slytherin."

Hermione laughed, "We all should have gone into Slytherin. Anyway, what happened with Moody? There was a ton of rumors floating about- though I doubt anyone remembers now."

Harry grumbled in mock outrage, "You can't just say that and jump back. It's a non sequitur."

Hermione shrugged, "I'll expand when we see Ron. Now tell me."

"Veni vidi vici. Well maybe not the vici part. My brother's a dictator and the phrase fits him perfectly at the moment so don't interrupt."

She interrupted anyway, "Yeah, but he's a pompous dictator."

"How is that any different than what I was saying?" Harry, sitting on the bottom rung of the ladder, started to run his fingers on the wooden sides, "So he tracks me, I suspect by Luke's proximity blood ward thing, and finds me with Professor Moody, who we all know as Crouch Jr."

Hermione shrugged and sat down next to her stack of books, "I'm still used to calling him Moody."

Harry turned and started to climb a couple more rungs before sitting down again, "So he comes in, slamming the door wide open and opens his mouth to say who knows what, when he realizes I'm at wandpoint. He then threw a dungbomb, pulled me out and started running like hell- though he says he was just impatient at the time and wanted me to make food in 5 minutes and that he wanted to avoid the stink that'd set into his clothes. Later I'd learn that Crouch Jr. hadn't followed because there was a replica of me yelling profanities at him. Apparently, my brother learned it from Victor or something after the Dragon challenge."

Hermione wasn't sure whether to laugh or frown. "Well, that's not good."

Crouch Jr. had escaped that night. Authorities hadn't been able to track him down- not that Harry had a lot of faith in them in the first place. Hence, there was now a skilled Death Eater who Harry had apparently cursed and openly mocked.

(")

(1) Reference to a quote from Philip Gibbs: "…too young to be killed for old men's crimes…" regarding World War I.

A/N: It's late. I meant to include a whole lot more in this chapter. Special thanks go to danielle72679 as my first reviewer and wingless-tenshi. Also, thank you's to the two people who added me to their story alerts (as I'm unsure if they'd like to remain anonymous, I'll keep from naming them). You're the reason for this second chapter which I never expected to come. I wrote the first chapter without thinking much about the characters ;I don't look at my hits because I don't know if someone just clicked on the link, read one sentence and backed out in disgust, so your reviews and alerts mean A LOT.

Again, I'd love to get a Harry Potter expert to help me. I should also thank Harry Potter Lexicon for the information on many of the characters.

If anything is unclear, please let me know. Thanks!

Next Time: The twins meet two and a half blonds (if that's any clue to their identity) and several nonhuman/partial-human appear. Because fangs are always fun. (points at Twilight Though, honestly, I haven't read the latest book b/c I'm a little apprehensive… although my sister tells me it's good.) Maybe another look at Draco depending on reviews (?)

'k I'll stop rambling.


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